A solar cell module includes a substrate, an element section disposed on the substrate and including a unit cell, a sealer, and a first material. The element section and the first material are housed in a space sealed with the sealer. The unit cell includes a pair of electrodes having conductivity and includes a light-absorbing layer located between the pair of electrodes and converting light into electric charge. The light-absorbing layer includes a perovskite compound represented by a compositional formula AMX.sub.3, where A represents a monovalent cation, M represents a divalent cation, and X represents a monovalent anion. The first material is an amine derivative represented by a compositional formula (Q.sub.1Q.sub.2Q.sub.3-NH)Y, where Q.sub.1, Q.sub.2, and Q.sub.3 each independently represent a functional group including at least one element selected from the group consisting of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen; and Y represents a halogen.

Thin-film solar cell modules and serial cell-to-cell interconnect structures and methods of fabrication are described. In an embodiment, solar cell module and interconnect includes a conformal transport layer over a subcell layer. The conformal transport layer may also laterally surround an outside perimeter the subcell layer.

A solar module (and its fabrication method) is presented where a supporting substrate comprises a network of finger traces connected to bus bars. Photo-active layer portions and upper electrode layer portions are deposited on the substrate thereby forming a network of cells. The cells are connected in series by connecting the bus bar of one cell to the upper electrode layer of the adjacent cell, and the bus bars of two adjacent cells are coupled through a bypass element for protecting the cell array.

A method for making photocapacitor is provided. The method includes: preparing a perovskite solar cell, preparing a first supercapacitor electrode, deposing the first supercapacitor electrode onto the perovskite solar cell, dissolving a portion of a cell packaging structure and a first material, and preparing a second supercapacitor electrode opposite to the first supercapacitor electrode.

A self-powered module for gesture recognition is presented that utilizes small, low-cost photodiodes for both energy harvesting and gesture sensing. Operating in the photovoltaic mode, photodiodes harvest energy from ambient light. In the meantime, the instantaneously harvested power from individual photodiodes is monitored and exploited as a clue for sensing finger gestures in proximity. Harvested power from all photodiodes is aggregated to drive the whole gesture-recognition module including a micro-controller running the recognition algorithm. A robust, lightweight algorithm is provided to recognize finger gestures in the presence of ambient light fluctuations. Two prototypes are fabricated to facilitate user's interaction with smart glasses and smart watches.

The fabrication and characterization of large scale inverted organic solar array fabricated using all-spray process is disclosed. Solar illumination has been demonstrated to improve transparent solar photovoltaic devices. The technology using SAM has potential to revolute current silicon-based photovoltaic technology by providing a complete solution processable manufacturing process. The semi-transparent property of the solar module allows for applications on windows and windshields. The inventive arrays are more efficient than silicon solar cells in artificial light environments, permitting use of the arrays in powering microelectromechanical systems and in integration with microelectromechanical systems.

Processes and formulations for manufacturing a painted circuit are disclosed. In some implementations, a painted circuit can be manufactured using a process including providing a substrate and applying one or more paint layers on a surface of the substrate, where the one or more paint layers each form an electrical component of the painted circuit. A given paint layer of the one or more paint layers can include a conductive paint formulation having a resistance that is defined by a concentration of conductive material that is included in the conductive paint formulation and a thickness of the given paint layer, and lower concentrations of the conductive material included in the conductive paint formulation provide a higher resistance than higher concentrations of conductive material.

Disclosed herein are solar cell devices comprising a transparent substrate, a solar cell fabricated over the transparent substrate and a polymeric concentrator comprising a concentrating lens with a planar surface, wherein the concentrating lens is optically aligned with the solar cell such that the concentrating lens provides a uniform illumination over an entire surface of the solar cell. Also, disclosed herein are methods of making solar cell devices and in particular polymeric concentrators.

A structure of photovoltaic cell is provided. The structure of photovoltaic cell includes a substrate, a lower conductive layer, a photovoltaic layer, and an upper conductive layer, the lower conductive layer is disposed at one side of the substrate, the photovoltaic layer is disposed at the other surface of the lower conductive layer, and the upper conductive layer is disposed on the other surface of the photovoltaic layer. An electron transporting layer, a hole transporting layer, and an active layer sandwiched between the electron transporting layer and the hole transporting layer collectively constitute the photovoltaic layer. The electron transporting layer convers a portion of the active layer and the hole transporting layer for blocking the upper conductive layer from electrically connecting to the active layer and the hole transporting layer.

To provide a photoelectric conversion element, including a first substrate, a first transparent electrode disposed on the first substrate, a hole-blocking layer disposed on the first transparent electrode, an electron-transporting layer that is disposed on the hole-blocking layer and includes an electron-transporting semiconductor on a surface of which a photosensitizing compound is adsorbed, a hole-transporting layer that is connected to the electron-transporting layer and includes a hole-transporting material, and a second electrode disposed on the hole-transporting layer, wherein the photoelectric conversion element includes an output extraction terminal part configured to extract electricity out from the photoelectric conversion element, and the output extraction terminal part is formed with a plurality of micropores piercing through the hole-blocking layer.